Bleed Blue

On my list of 100 reasons to love Utah State, cost is one of them.

There's this notion floating around the internet world that college degrees aren't worth their cost.  There have always been naysayers when it comes to higher education, but the fact that student loan debt has now matched credit card debt in America . . . I think the argument is getting a little more attention.  One report says the cost of college has risen thirtyfold, where health care has risen sixfold and inflation threefold.  So yes, thirtyfold is steep.

To quote wikipedia cause they say it better than I do (plus did you know research shows wikipedia is as legit as the Encyclopedia Britannica? -- which means, yes I let my students use and quote it, I also showed them how to use the footnotes to find the original source to make sure it was accurate information).  Notice all the footnotes in this piece; bolding added per my highlights:

In recent years, Utah State University has received high national rankings in a diverse array of categories, especially in regards to overall value. In 2010, Forbes listed USU as the #1 highest-ranked public university in the nation within its category of most inexpensive places to go to school.^[52] It is also the #1 public university in the West (and in the top 5 public universities nationwide) on the similar Forbes list of "America's Best College Buys."^[53] USU has also in the past been ranked 1st in the nation among public universities, by U.S. News and World Report, for graduates with the least amount of debt.^[54]

The Princeton Review has ranked Utah State among the "Best Western" schools for many years,^[55] and Popular Science called it one of the Top 10 Smartest Schools in the nation.^[56] The university also leads the nation in funding for aerospace research and the number of student experiments actually sent out into space.^[28] Various entities within the university have received high departmental rankings, such as the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, which ranks 2nd in the nation for total research dollars received by any one college, and in the top 2% for all graduate colleges of education.^[38] The athletics program recently won a National Championship for most sports success per dollar spent.^[57]

Logan and the surrounding communities also feature prominently on national lists, including #1 safest U.S. metropolitan area,^[58] #3 in "Best Cities to Find a Job",^[59] and #10 in "Best Small Places for Business and Careers"  

Now, I'd be truly lying if I said I paid for my own college education.  Yes, I worked all 4.5 years of college and I did pay for my last two semesters (which I just finished paying off with this years tax return).  But what really got me through college was being the proud recipient of the Scott and Claudia scholarship fund.  I just had to keep above a 3.5 and always hold down a part-time job.  So to say I feel the burden of expensive education costs would be a lie, but I still feel lots of pride in knowing I  graduated from the highest ranking department in a nationally ranked university, known for being the best dollar for your education.

Most importantly, if USU hadn't been so cheap I may have never met Ben.  Any Aggie can tell you there are lots of Illinois and Washington/Oregon license plates driving around Cache Valley, simply because it's cheaper to pay USU's out-of-state tuition than either of those states' in-tuition cost.

I'm just hoping all this "college isn't worth the $$" buzz, makes other public university systems realize they can offer a world class education without charging their student's for life.  Go USU!